Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin revealed on Monday that he, along with a coalition of fellow Congressional Democrats, is crafting legislation to ban former President Donald Trump from holding office for his role in the January 6th Capitol riot.
The move to ban Trump from appearing on ballots nationwide came just hours after the United States Supreme Court ruled that Congress alone holds the power to enforce the “Insurrection Clause” of the 14th Amendment. As Valuetainment previously reported, the Court issued a unanimous ruling on Monday reversing a decision by the state of Colorado that disqualified Trump from appearing on the state’s primary ballot.
“We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency,” the ruling stated.
The high court’s ruling also effectively ended pending ballot challenges in Illinois and Maine.
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However, many Democratic lawmakers objected to the decision. Responding to the ruling, Rep. Raskin railed against the Court, stating “We don’t have a king here, we had a revolution against a king.”
But with the Court passing the issue on to Congress rather than making an official determination itself, Raskin and his fellow Democrats also see an opportunity.
“In any event, the Supreme Court punted and said it’s up to Congress to act,” Raskin told CNN on Monday afternoon. “I am working with a number of my colleagues, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Eric Swalwell, to revive legislation that we had to set up a process by which we could determine that someone who committed insurrection is disqualified by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) after SCOTUS ruling says he is working to revive legislation to “set up a process” to, under the 14th Amendment, disqualify someone who's committed insurrection:
“The question is whether Speaker Mike Johnson would allow us to bring this to the floor.” pic.twitter.com/UDC9xbVLLo
— The Recount (@therecount) March 4, 2024
Raskin, who once served on the now-defunct House Select January 6th Subcommittee, also noted that the House impeached Trump for “inciting an insurrection” in 2021. “The question is whether Speaker Mike Johnson would allow us to bring this to the floor of the House,” he continued.
Trump’s January 6th impeachment was ultimately struck down in the Senate by a vote of 53-47. He has also not been criminally convicted of insurrection against the United States government.
As experts indicated at the time of the Supreme Court decision, a Democrat-controlled Congress could potentially invoke the Amendment and refuse to certify the 2024 election in Trump’s favor should he win. The issue would then return to the Court, this time during a full-blown constitutional crisis.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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